Veiled Shadows (The Age of Alandria: Book Two) (30 page)

Nervously, she looked back to the guard to see what he would do. He turned around, irritated that they had paused, but he only frowned then waited expectantly as they continued following. But Kaeleigh’s eyes could not break from the stranger’s eyes that burned into her from the inside of his cell. Wanting to flinch away, she felt it important to keep eye contact, trying to convey that she was worthy to keep his secrets. Something was tugging at the back of her mind, something familiar, but she couldn’t figure out what.

Her friends were now pulling her along to keep the guard from getting her himself. More than once she heard, “Please, Kaeleigh, keep going,” “Come on,” “Lean on us,” from a haze surrounding her mind.

Finally she stumbled outside with her friends. The chill from the night air quickly brought her lucidity. Scanning her surroundings, she couldn’t see much as it was extremely dark with nothing but the light of the two moons shining brightly before her and stars that seemed to wink at her, making her smile. It was breathtaking. She could almost forget she was in another realm until she saw something like the scene in front of her. The biggest of the moons was a striation of shades of blue including turquoise; the smaller the purest white she’d ever seen. The only thing prodding her gaze away was the tall guard that firmly grabbed her arm, jerked her around, and pushed her forward along the path.

“Keep up!” he barked at her, continuing to push her from behind.

Finn dared to speak up, probably to force him away from his focus on Kaeleigh. “Where are you taking us?”

“Not that it’s your business to know, but my lady requires your presence. The sentence is to be declared and commenced,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What?” all three exclaimed. “But there was no trial or hearing my side!” Kaeleigh stammered out.

The guard just shrugged. “That’s not how we do it here.” He gave her an evil smirk and prodded her along some more.

Finn reached back, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. He whispered probably more to himself, “We’ll figure something out.”

Kaeleigh felt a tremor starting to form in her gut that spread to all her limbs. This was bad, this was very bad. Her emotions became tumultuous; they were on spin cycle ranging from fear to anger to sadness to injustice to rage and back to fear. Hand shaking, she tried to pull her unruly hair back out of her face. She could try to use her magic, but she wasn’t sure what she could do without getting Finn and Chel hurt. Hunter hadn’t had the chance to do much instructing with magic. She needed to remain calm. Finally a blessed numbness settled throughout her body, subduing the chaos of energy she was subconsciously trying to contain when all she wanted to do was unleash it on the ones inflicting their false ideas of justice upon her.
I don’t even live here!

Stumbling along the path, trying to think fast enough to find a solution or an escape—she couldn’t let anything happen to her friends—unaware of her surroundings, she almost missed the barely imperceptible struggle behind her. Finn grabbed her and Chel, pulling them behind him jerkily while he crouched in a fight stance, though he no longer had his weapons. Sticking her head around his shoulder, she tried to see what was happening, but all she could see was a cloaked figure, almost part of the darkness, wrestling with the guard but only barely before the guard was rendered limp onto the ground.

Gasping, Kaeleigh and Chel held onto the back of Finn’s shirt, not sure if they should be afraid of this new threat or grateful he had just taken out their guard and apparently another one that had been hiding in the bushes as “silent backup.”
Well, he’s definitely the silent backup now.
Kaeleigh chuckled silently to herself and her ill-timed humor... or insanity.

Now heading toward them, the looming figure hooded in black spoke, but his words were struggled and gravelly like he was in a tremendous amount of pain. “He won’t stay out long. You need to hurry, get out of here before they send more guards out looking for them.” His breaths were coming out strangled and labored.

Kaeleigh didn’t see the guard get close enough to have hurt their cloaked savior. His voice gripped her heart and it started beating too fast. Eyes wide, she couldn’t help but take steps toward him, shaky as they may be. Finn gripped her arm as she tried to get closer. He just frowned at her, willing her not to get too close. Pleading to him with her eyes, she had to know. “Are you all right?” she tentatively asked the “masked man.” There she went again with her inappropriately timed insanity humor.
Oh well.
She shrugged.
Might as well embrace it
.

He was now beginning to sag onto the ground. Angered, he ground out with clenched teeth, “Get out of here now! Take her. Time is running out.”

Something about his strangled cry at the end broke her heart. Even though Chel and Finn were trying to pull her back, she hurried the rest of the short distance and dropped beside him.

Trying once again, but even more labored than before, he gasped, “Kaeleigh, you must go!”

Gasping, she whispered his name as her heart did a little flutter, “Daegan.” Her shaking fingers slowly reached the top of his hood to pull it back from his face. It was him. He had come to her rescue, and it was costing him—possibly his life.

“What is it? Are you injured?” she asked with shortness of breath, as she couldn’t believe he had come. Still angry and hurt from before, she couldn’t deny the truth in her heart at realizing it was him. 

He just shook his head, straining trying not to cry out in pain. He was strong and extremely tough—he was a warrior after all—but for him to be showing this much, he must be in excruciating pain. But why? And what could she do? Frantically, she turned back to Finn, but he made no move to help, staring blankly at her. She could see Finn’s heart breaking, knowing where her choice would be were she presented with it. Damn it! This was not the time.

Her scowl must have alerted him to this fact, for he suddenly shifted and took on a no-nonsense stance as he placed his hand upon Daegan’s foot, which was closest. “There are no physical injuries that I can sense except for an extreme amount of negative energy coming off his left shoulder,” Finn said as he pointed toward his arm.

Inhaling sharply, Kaeleigh reached toward Daegan’s shoulder, but he flinched and glared at Finn, of all people, which made Kaeleigh frown. “Get her out of here!” he growled.

About to snap, Kaeleigh interjected angrily, “Don’t you start! You saved us, now let me help you. I know I can.” Kaeleigh was confident in that fact. “It’s her, isn’t it?” she asked, not really expecting an answer, but she saw the pain, the regret, the humiliation, and the anger answered in his eyes. “I can see the connection if I focus on it. I think I can break it or maybe redirect it.” She settled closer to him as she started to yank up his sleeve, grabbing his hand. Ignoring the tingles that shot through her hand, she tried to focus, but his whispered pleas caught her attention.

“If broken... I... die. Gonna die anyway.” His words were broken and breathy.

Anger surged in her and she instinctively reached for the energy within her that had been seeking release earlier. She touched the skin of his shoulder; it felt hot and fevered. She was instantly captured in an onslaught of images she knew he wouldn’t have let her receive if his guard had been up. The fear for him and knowing what she was looking for seemed to give her a bit more control over her gift. She was beginning to see it as such.

Gasping, Kaeleigh watched Maleina instructing a young boy, one of the boys from some dreams she had had—she couldn’t believe it, but kept watching the scene. Even at his young age she could see the struggle in his eyes, the fight not to lose himself over to her whether he knew it or not. Next he was in a line with other boys that looked a bit older—all warriors in training. He was the youngest among them, but had a commanding air about him that made him stand apart from the rest. One by one they went behind a door and then it would close. Daegan was next. Inside the door he was strapped down in a chair, but he seemed fine with it for the most part. Perhaps it was expected. The older man in the room wore a long jacket resembling a lab coat as he talked to Daegan. The man turned his back to Daegan and prepared some kind of device with a sharp-pointed needle at the end.

It was like watching a silent movie; Kaeleigh could only observe what happened.
Oh God, I can’t watch this.
Kaeleigh shuddered, surprised she could even think coherently within this vision.

The man grabbed a couple of vials and poured one into the device. Then an evil glint sparked in his eye and with a smirk he grabbed the other vial with a bluish liquid in it and poured it in as well. Turning back to Daegan, he grabbed his shoulder and started to work. A tattoo. He was giving these young boys a tattoo! There was something different about Daegan’s, though, and he winced in surprise, trying desperately not to show his fear or pain.
Kaeleigh’s heart hurt for him.

The next image of Daegan was much older. He was dressed for battle, and preparing to received a punishment meted out by Maleina. Kaeleigh could see the barest hint of hesitation in his posture and the internal war he fought in his eyes. He hid it well but Kaeleigh could see it perhaps even more clearly with the connection into his mind.

Suddenly he squared his shoulders, decision made. He turned away from the little cottage he had been focusing on for what seemed like forever, intent on walking away, away from it all. Gripping his shoulder and dropping to his knees, he let out only the barest cry of pain, his face contorted in agony.

Kaeleigh tried to run to him, forgetting she was in his memory. She was in pain for him and a rage began stirring inside her, growing from her mind where it connected her to him throughout her body, residing in her heart. Not yet ready to be unleashed, she watched in horror.

Daegan staggered up, turning back toward the homey cottage with the white picket fence surrounded by thick forest. It was the perfect location for his duty. Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, he began standing up straighter as his pain seemed to ease with each step he took toward the back of the house. He prayed to whoever would listen that no one was home. A middle-aged man was his intended target. Maleina wouldn’t tell him why and he didn’t want to know. Slowly he made his way to the edge of the forest and onto a well-worn path leading through a small gate onto the property. Well-maintained flower beds and small herb gardens sat to one side of the path and opposite it were children’s play toys. His steps faltered. Head hung low, he took a deep breath and steeled himself to once again turn back toward the forest. More intense than the first time, the pain hit hard, instantaneously slamming him to the ground. Still, he tried to crawl toward the shelter of the forest where he was determined to leave this realm for good if that was his only choice. His body betraying him to the invisible leash that bound him to his duty, his mind strong of will forced him to keep trying. Straining, he reached forward with his strong arm, clawing his nails deep into the earth for better leverage. After several failed attempts to keep moving, he simply lay there trying to catch his breath. His back and shoulders shuddered with emotion.

Suddenly his head snapped up and his eyes widened with surprise as his body once again betrayed his will, starting to move and get up of its own volition. Daegan’s fists clenched in rage, his fierce chocolate eyes burned with fire; he was practically electric. But still he failed. He couldn’t fight that which he had unknowingly been bound to. He lost.

Giving in to the order, he closed in on the job. A single tear slid down his face and fell to the ground. He couldn’t think of what it could actually mean, what he was actually doing to this family. He couldn’t think. He could only act. He was broken. Numbly, he willed a spark of fire between his fingers, then walked away into the darkness of the forest hardened and irreparable...  possibly beyond forgiveness.

Emotions and power beyond anything Kaeleigh had felt up to this point boiled within her. It was time. Kaeleigh unleashed her energy and it flew wildly into the air in a whiplike fashion.  It was raw, untamed power; it was freed. Quickly realizing it could get out of control, Kaeleigh gave it guidance. As it latched onto Daegan’s shoulder he screamed. So did she. It flowed through the point of entry of his tattoo. Daegan spoke breathlessly to Kaeleigh’s mind.
Foolish girl! You could kill yourself, let me die. I deserve it.
Even though he said the words she could feel the most minuscule glimmer of hope in him. Anger at what Maleina had done—stealing his innocence, fracturing who he was—spurred her actions on. Instinctively, her energy sought out its target and latched onto the poison that unknowingly bound his flesh and blood to another. Firmly rooted was this bond. She willed her power to not let go. Emotions took over, now filled with hope, freedom, and most of all... love. Pushing them towards Daegan, she prayed that what she was about to do worked.

He gasped, feeling her emotions. Then with great force she pulled her energy back with a snap. It was quick but not pain free and not without repercussion. They both screamed again. Daegan arched off the ground in agony, as if his insides were being ripped out. There was an explosion of energy in a brilliant blue spark above them as her energy absorbed his bond and showered its disintegration in the form of blue ash all over the ground. He crashed back to the ground with a heavy thud and she slumped over in exhaustion. Then there was peace, at least for the moment.

At least until Chel and Finn yelled, “KAELEIGH!” and ran over to her. Chel was practically on top of her, running her hand over her head and face. “Kaeleigh, are you dead?” Chel asked, panic flaring.

Breathing heavy, Kaeleigh gripped Finn’s hand; he was now on her other side. With not much volume, but with an authority she hadn’t used with him before, she said, “Get the man out of prison. We need him.”